But the people, the men of Israel, took courage and strengthened themselves and again set their battle line.
Judges Chapter 20 tells the story of the Israelites losing battles on two consecutive days. Rather than give up after their first defeat, they “took courage and strengthened themselves.”
The men of Israel had a choice to make after their defeats: Would they try again, believing that with God they wouldn’t fail, or would they take the easy way out and give up? It takes courage to keep pressing on when you have already experienced what appears to be failure, but we see in God’s Word that when the Israelites kept going, trusting Him, they ended up victorious.
Many people live unfulfilled lives because they let one or two failures defeat them. I like to say that we are not failures just because we fail at something. Nobody is a failure until he or she quits trying. Be courageous—keep on trying.
Prayer of the Day: Father God, I trust You today to give me the courage I need to keep on trying and to never give up. I can’t do it without You, amen.
